Tutorial - Using Zapier and Trello to Manage Tasks and be Agile

November 21, 2018 16:24

The Zapier integration is available to subscribers of our Legacy, Boutique, and Elite plans.

You can upgrade to the Boutique or Elite plan in the app, or if you’re interested in seeing how this feature can work for your law firm feel free to contact us by email or give us a call at 1-888-858-2546 (choose option #1).

As lawyers look for efficiencies in the their task management and workflow, many firms are moving towards Agile project management and methodologies. By connecting Clio to Trello via Zapier, you can elevate your workflow and take advantage of Trello's project management and collaboration tools.

This tutorial will show you how to create two Zaps. The first Zap will automatically create a new board in your Trello account whenever you add a Matter to Clio. These boards will be named to match your Matters, which is important for the follow up Zap. The second Zap works off of the first Zap to allow you to send Trello cards to Clio as tasks.

For general information about getting started with Zapier, please see the Zapier Support article HERE.

When creating a Zap, Zapier requires that the accounts that you are using already have some data relevant to the Zaps that you are trying to create. Before creating your Zap:

Ensure that your Clio account has at least Matter

Ensure that your Trello account has at least one board with at least one card

Create a test Trello card with the following:

Add a checklist and name it Clio. The checklist should have one option: "Send to Clio". Check this option. The "Clio" checklist will be used to determine which Trello cards should automatically create a new Task in Clio.

Create Labels for each user on your Clio account (using the exact spelling that appears in your Clio account). Labels will be used to determine which user this Task should be assigned to. Add a single label to the card.

New Matters in Clio Create New Boards in Trello

Setting up the Trigger

In a new Zap, select Clio as the Trigger app, then select "New Matter".

The final step in the Trigger setup is testing the connection to your Clio account.

If the test is successful, continue on to the Action steps.

Setting up the Action

For the Action app, select Trello, then select "Create Board".

Next, connect your Trello account.

In the "Set up Trello Board" step, the "Name" and "Description" fields are required. To map the board name and description to information from Clio, click on the "Insert a Field" button to the right of each field.

We suggest mapping the board name to the Clio "Display Number" (this is the Matter number) and the board description to the Clio Matter "Description".

Finally, Zapier will need to test your zap. This test will take some sample Matter data from Clio to create a new board in Trello. You can delete this test board from your Trello account if desired. If the test is successful, name your Zap and turn it on.

Trello Cards Create Tasks in Clio

Setting up the Trigger

In a new Zap, select Trello as the Trigger app, then select "New Activity".

Next, connect your Trello account.

In the "Set up Trello Activity" step, leave the "Board", "List", and "Card" settings as they are and click "Continue".

The final step in the Trigger setup is testing the connection to your Trello account. Ensure that you already have a board with a test card that has been set up using the steps detailed above before clicking the "Fetch & Continue" button.

If the test is successful, continue on to the Action steps.

Setting up the Action

For the Action app, select Clio, then select "Create Task".

Next, connect your Clio account.

In the "Set up Clio Task" step, map the Task fields to Trello activity information as follows:

Name = Data Card Name* The Clio "Task Name" will be matched with the name of the Trello card.

Due Date = Data Card Due* The Clio Task "Due at" date will be matched with the due date of the Trello card. Your Trello card must have a due date for this Zap to run as the "Due at" field is required in Clio.

Description = Data Card Desc* The Clio Task "Description" will be matched with the description on the Trello card.

Assigned To = Data Card Labels Name* To set the assignee on the Clio Task, create labels in Trello for each member of your Clio account, as detailed above, and add the appropriate label to your Trello card. Note that the Trello label must match the spelling of the user name in Clio exactly, and only one user label can be added to a Trello card.

Matter = Data Board Name* Since Trello boards are being created automatically with the Clio Matter naming convention (as set up in the Zap above), matching the "Matter" field with the name of the related board will ensure that the Task is linked to the appropriate Matter when created in Clio.

The final step in the Action setup is testing the connection to your Clio account. This test will take some sample data from a card in your Trello account to create a new Task in Clio. You can delete this test Task from your Clio account if desired.If the test is successful, continue on to the filter set up.

Adding a Filter

After setting up the Trigger and Action details, you will need to add a filter to your Zap to ensure that only specified Trello cards create a Task in Clio.

To add a filter, click on the button between the Trigger and Activity steps on the left hand panel, then click the "Filter" button.

In the first filter field, select "Data Check Item Name". This will tell the filter to run in response to a checklist action. In the second filter field, select "(Text) Contains". In the third filter field, type "clio".

This filter ensures that the Zap will only run on Trello cards where the "Send to Clio" list box has been checked.

Once you have added your filter, you can name the Zap and turn it on.

Putting it all Together - Ensuring Success with your Zaps

Once you have set up the above Zaps, Trello boards will be created automatically with the display name of your Clio Matters.

As you add cards to these boards:

Ensure that you add a single "user" label to those cards that you want to send to Clio as a task. The user label will specify which user the task should be assigned to.

Clio tasks also require a "Due at" date. This date is taken from the due date on the Trello card. As such, you must specify a due date on any card that you want to send to Clio as a task.

Finally, to determine which cards should automatically create a task in Clio, add a "Clio" checklist with the following specifications:

Name the checklist "Clio"

Add one option to the checklist labeled "Send to Clio"

Was this article helpful?

Thank you for your feedback.

We'll use this information to inform the continual improvement of our self-help resources.

This information is confusing or wrong
This isn't the information that I was looking for
I don't like this functionality